I have this morning one of the
most important subjects that I have used since I've been on
this television program. I'm going to do more teaching
today than preaching, but I believe, after all, good preaching is
teaching. Scripture talks about Christ
has left in the church prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors,
and teachers. The pastor is to be a teacher.
And if we're not teaching men, we're certainly not preaching
much. And so I want you to take your Bibles and open them this
morning to the book of Hebrews. First of all, Hebrews 4. Hebrews
chapter 4. Now, here's my subject. We have
a great high priest. We have a great high priest. Here in Hebrews 4, verse 14 and
16, listen to what the apostle says. Seeing then that we have
a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Now look at
verse 16. Seeing that we have a great high
priest, let us, sinners, guilty sons of Adam, let us come boldly,
confidently, unto the throne of grace into the very presence
of God, into the very presence of the most high, majestic, holy,
living God. Let us come boldly, confidently
into the presence of God that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Now, there's another scripture
in Hebrews 10. If you look at verse 21 and 22, it says this,
and having an high priest." You see, it's almost the same wording
as Hebrews 4, 14, seeing we have a great high priest. And in chapter
10, verse 21, Paul says, "...and having a high priest over the
house of God, let us, guilty sinners, let us draw near into
the presence of God in full assurance of faith." Let us draw near.
Now, when I read scriptures like these, I get two pictures in
my mind that help me to understand what these scriptures are teaching.
And the first picture is when Israel, the people of God, stood
before Mount Sinai. And here Moses gave them, in
the words that God spoke, the law of God. It says he gave them
the words of God, and when the people heard the words of the
Lord God, what was their reaction? Well, listen to it. It's found
over there in the book of Exodus, chapter 20. It says, The people
stood before the mountain, and they saw the thunderings and
the lightnings. They saw the mountain smoking,
and the noise of the trumpet. And the Word of God says, When
they saw it, they moved back. They removed away from the presence
of God. And they stood afar off. And
they said to Moses, Moses, speak to us, and we will hear. But
let not God speak to us, lest we die." In other words, when
they saw the absolute, immaculate, infinite, unchangeable holiness
of God, the holiness of God, the power and majesty and great
glory of God, instead of rushing forward, instead of rushing familiarly
into the presence of God, they just backed up. They just removed
themselves away from that mountain and away from the presence of
God, filled with fear. And they turned to Moses and
they said, Moses, be a mediator for us. Don't let God deal directly
with us. And we will not attempt to deal
directly with God. But you go to God and speak for
us and come to us and speak for God. Now, here's the second picture
that I get in my mind. When I read this scripture, we
have, talking about us today, we have a high priest. And because
we have a high priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has
gone into the heavens, into the presence of God, we have the
privilege to come boldly into God's presence. The second picture
I get is this. Israel was in the wilderness.
And God came to Moses and gave him specific instructions and
design about building a tabernacle. He told him to build a courtyard
and surround that courtyard with a fence, a white linen fence
eight feet high, and then inside that courtyard to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle was to be 15 feet
wide and 45 feet long and 15 feet high. Now, out here at the Eastern
Gate, as you enter into the wall of white linen, which represents
the righteousness and holiness of God, the people were to stay
out. No one was to come in that courtyard
but the priest, the priest who went about the duties of sacrifice
and the high priest. But as you came into that courtyard
at the Eastern Gate, there was an altar where a lamb was slain. And then as you proceeded toward
the tabernacle, there was a labor of water where the priest would
wash his hands and wash his feet. And then he would go inside,
and just inside that tabernacle was a place called the Holy Place. And in that Holy Place were three
pieces of furniture. On one side was the table of
showbread, on the other side was the candlesticks, which is
Christ, the light of the world, and the bread is Christ, the
bread of life. And then as you proceed forward, There's a huge
veil, four or five inches thick, from the top to the bottom, from
one wall to the other. There's no door in the veil,
there's no opening in the veil, it's all the way from the top
of the tabernacle to the floor and from one side to the other.
And right in front of that veil was an altar of incense. And
on this altar of incense, the priests were to keep the incense
burning 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That represents the prayers
of Christ, the intercession of Christ for his people. But inside
that veil was a place called the Holy of Holies. That's where
God dwelt, or the symbol of God's presence. God dwelt in the Holy
of Holies. He revealed his presence in that
place. No one was ever allowed in that
place, in the Holy of Holies. No one. Not the priests, not
the prophets, not anyone. Not the king, none of the people.
They were not allowed in that Holy of Holies. In that Holy
of Holies was an Ark of the Covenant. It was a small box, two and a
half feet long and about two feet wide and so deep. And inside
that Ark of the Covenant were the tables of stone which God
gave to Moses, the Law, or the Ten Commandments. Also in that
Ark of the Covenant was a was Aaron's rod that budded, and
also a small cup or bowl of the manna that God gave to feed the
Israelites. And over the top of that ark
of the covenant was a mercy seat of solid gold. And over that
mercy seat were two cherubims. They faced one another. And in
the middle of those cherubims, the Shekinah, the Holy, the Infinite
Glory of God was revealed. Now, this cubicle here, 15 feet
wide, 15 high, 15 long, was called the Holy of Holies. No one was
ever allowed in there. Once a year, only once a year,
on the Day of Atonement, the high priest, only the high priest,
no one else, was allowed to come under that veil with a censer
burning the incense, which represents the prayers of Christ. The smoke
filled that place as the incense would burn. And he would bring
the blood that had been shed from the Lamb once a year, called
the Day of Atonement, and he would come under that veil into
that holy, awesome, fearful, holy of holies, and he would
walk up to that mercy seat one time a year. And he would pour
that blood on the mercy seat. It would cover the broken law.
Now, that's how the atonement was made. It was a typical atonement.
It was an atonement which was pictured. It was a picture of
Christ's atonement. But this high priest represented
the people and himself, and the blood was shed for their sins
and for his sins. And that blood was offered typically
every year. Now then, we have a high priest. God taught Israel exactly what
He's teaching us today. It's the same thing. God is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. And here at Sinai, when He revealed
His awesome, fearful, majestic, holy presence, and the people
backed away. And here in the tabernacle, in
the wilderness, when God revealed His holy, awesome, fearful presence,
His righteous presence, He revealed unto them that no son of Adam
can approach a living God without a suitable priest and a suitable
sacrifice. Never, never, never. And God
taught Israel some things that you and I need to come to grips
with, and that right soon, because God is the same. He changes not,
nor does his way of grace ever change. Here's what I'm saying.
I'm saying from the Scriptures that the Lord God is eternally
Unchangeably, infinitely holy. The absolute living God, listen
to me, understand what I'm saying, is unapproachable by human flesh. Unapproachable by sons of Adam. Now that's just so. As Martin
Luther said, I want nothing to do with Elohim. I want nothing
to do with an absolute God. And neither do you. And Israel
realized this, and God taught them this in the wilderness.
You want nothing to do with an absolute God. You want nothing
to do as a guilty sinner, from the sole of your feet to the
top of your head, nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores, with a deceitful heart, with a guilty spirit. You want
nothing to do with that awesome presence of a holy God. He's
the same. He hasn't changed. The next thing
God taught them was this, any man who approaches God, who seeks
to have any communion with the Most High, Righteous, Holy God,
must come to Him through a suitable mediator, through a suitable
high priest who has in his hands a suitable sacrifice. Now, today's
familiarity with the living God is unknown and unheard of in
the scripture. We have an example of a man who
tried to do what men are trying to do today. His name was Azar.
He was a notable, famous, and mighty king of Israel. Azar.
He reigned over Israel for some time. The scripture says his
heart was lifted up with pride. You'll find this in 2 Chronicles
26, beginning with verse 16 through verse 20. This man, King Azar,
his heart was lifted up with pride. And he went down to the
temple, which was built just like the tabernacle, when the
temporary tabernacle was done away with and Israel built the
temple, the permanent temple, the same sacrifices, the same
ceremonies, the same feast days, the same Day of Atonement, the
same thing was conducted. You remember it said when Christ
died, the veil in the temple was rent in plain from top to
bottom? That's the veil that is spoken of right here, that
I was talking about a moment ago, the veil that separated
the holy place from the Holy of Holies. And Uzziah went down
to the temple, and he took the censer and put incense on it
and was going into the Holy of Holies. And the priest stopped
him. Eh Uzziah, the priest stopped him. And there were 80 priests
in that courtyard and around that temple. And they said to
Uzziah, Don't go into the Holy of Holies. It appertaineth not
to thee. We know you're a king. We know
you're a mighty man. We know you're a man of influence.
We know you're a man of pride. But no son of Adam approaches
the living God except a suitable priest with a suitable sacrifice. Even the priest wouldn't go into
the Holy of Holies without the blood, without the atonement,
without the suitable sacrifice. And when he did go in once a
year, he was representing the people to God. He was a type
of Christ. And this king, he got angry with
the priest. King Uzziah got angry with him.
He said, step aside. And he walked into the Holy of
Holies. And the priest watched him, and the leprosy started
in his forehead and came all the way down his face. And standing
right in front of them, he became a snow-white leper. And the priest
took him and cast him out of the temple. And he was separated
from the people, and the Scripture says, God smote him, and God
cut him off. He was cut off, and his son reigned
in his stead. Now, I'm saying this to you,
and I want to be understood loud and clear. If you ever learn
anything, you learn this and learn it well. God is holy. God
is unapproachable by any son of Adam or by any mass of putrid
fallen flesh. You cannot in your place, I don't
care how sincere, I don't care how great, I don't care how moral,
I don't care how ignorant, It doesn't matter what day or what
generation, the presence of God is not open. Whatever a preacher
says to you, it is not open to a son of Adam apart from one
thing, and that is that he's represented by a suitable priest,
a God-ordained priest, a high priest, a great high priest who
has in his hand a sacrifice that God's ordained, that God has
instituted, and with which God will be pleased. Now, let me
show you that in the New Testament. In I Timothy 2.5, the Scripture
says there's one God, one living Lord, one sovereign, majestic
Redeemer, one almighty, eternal King of kings and Lord of lords.
One God. One God. Three persons, but one God. And
there is one Mediator between God and men, one Mediator, and
that's Christ Jesus. Now, that's clear as a bell,
one Mediator. It's not Abram, he was a tiger.
It's not a man here on this earth, it's not the Pope in Rome. It's
not Mary. There's one Mediator between
God and men, and that's the man, Christ Jesus. Now, let me read
you what the Master said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth
and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me." You're
not welcomed, you're not invited to come into the presence of
God except through a mediator. And that mediator has been designated,
he's been ordained, he's been appointed, he's been sent, he's
been commissioned by God himself, and that's Jesus Christ. Now,
that makes my text clearer, doesn't it? Let me read it again, Hebrews
4.14, "...Seeing then, that we have a great high priest. We, 1982, we have a great high
priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. Let us then come boldly. We can
come as Uzziah attempted to come, but he attempted to act as the
priest himself. He attempted to bring his sacrifice
himself. He attempted to burn incense
himself. And God smote him. God cut him
off. God cast him out. No man can
look on God and live. The flesh cannot come into God's
presence. We have a high priest. Hebrews 10 says, and having a
high priest over the house of God, Jesus Christ, then let us
draw near. Let us, you, me. That's why the
gospel is good news. That's why what I'm preaching
to you, it's the way of life. It's the way of mercy. It's the
way to God. It's the way into the Holy of
Holies. That's why it's good news. Let me tell you a few things
about our great high priest. If you'll study the whole book
of Hebrews, this is what Hebrews is all about. Hebrews gives you
the gospel in type and the fulfillment of all those types by Christ.
It certainly does. And here in Hebrews 3, verse
1, here, listen to what Paul said. Consider, wherefore, holy
brethren, consider, think, meditate upon, Consider the apostle and
high priest of our profession, of our profession, who is none
other than Christ Jesus. And our great high priest is
greater than the prophets. It says in Hebrews 1, verse 1,
God, who at sundry times in diverse manners spake to our fathers
with the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us. God speaks
to us, but not directly. We don't speak to God directly.
God does not speak to nor will He be spoken to by any fallen
son of Adam. The way is not open to you. You
can't come before God, not without a mediator, not without a high
priest. God has spoken to us. He spoke
through the prophets. He spoke through the priest in
those olden days. He has spoken to us by His Son. Christ is our mediator. And Christ
Jesus, let me tell you who He is. He's the heir of all things.
That's these next verses in Hebrews 1. by whom God made the worlds. You see, Paul is telling us to
consider our high priest. It's not Alan, not the sons of
Levi. It's one greater than the prophets
and greater than the priest. You see, our high priest is the
one by whom he made the worlds. Jesus Christ is the brightness
of his glory. He is the expressed image of
his person by whom he sustains and preserves all things, who
upholdeth all things by the word of his power. And he is seated
at the right hand of God. He's greater than the prophets
and the priests. He's greater than the angels. Hebrews 1.4
says, "...being so much better than the angels. To which of
the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee? But rather he said, Let all of
his angels worship him." They're his angels. He was from the beginning,
anointed above his fellows, and his throne is forever, and he's
greater than Moses. Hebrews 3.3 says, This man, Jesus
Christ is counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Who is He? He's Emmanuel, God with us. Consider the apostle and high
priest of our profession, of our faith, our mediator, our
way into the presence of God is through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now watch this second. Consider who He is. He's Emmanuel.
He's God with us. He's God's only begotten well-beloved
Son. Who ordained him to be the high
priest? Who ordained him? Now, listen
to Hebrews 5.1. Listen to this. Every high priest is taken from
among men. And our Lord was. He became a
man. He was born of a virgin. He lived on this earth. Bone
of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He was taken from among men and
ordained to offer sacrifice for sin. But listen. But no man takes
this honor on himself. Aaron didn't volunteer for this
priesthood. The sons of Levi didn't volunteer
for this task. No man takes this honor upon
himself, but he who is appointed of God, he who is chosen of God,
so also," now listen to this, "...so also Christ glorified
not himself to be made a high priest. But he that said unto
him, Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. He said unto
him, Thou art a priest forever. We've got on this earth today
self-made priests, we've got church-made priests, but let
me tell you something. Our great High Priest is God-appointed
and God-chosen. He said, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. He said, This is my Son, hear
ye Him. To the Son he saith, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. So who is our High Priest? He's
the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who appointed Him? The
Father Himself. The One who said unto Him, Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee. He said unto Him, Thou
art a priest forever. Now here's the third thing. Consider
His unchanging priesthood. How long has He been a priest?
How long will He be a priest? Now listen. Hebrews 5, 6 says
this, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
You meet this name, Melchizedek, several times in the Bible. Take
your concordance and look it up. It's there several times.
In fact, in Hebrews, three times, God said of Christ, Thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Who was Melchizedek? Who was Melchizedek? Well, Abraham,
in Hebrews chapter 7, Abraham was returning from the slaughter
of the kings. And it's said, that the high
priest of God met him, to whom he paid tithes. And I want you
to listen to how this high priest of God is identified and how
he's described. His name's Melchizedek. And the
Scripture says that he is the priest of the Most High God,
he is the king of Salem, he is the king of righteousness, he
is without mother, he is without father, he is without pedigree,
he has neither beginning of days nor end of life, He abideth a
priest forever. He blessed Abraham. He gave him
bread and wine. Who was this Melchizedek? My
friends, none other than the Son of God himself, our great
High Priest. And it says of him, he has an
unchanging priesthood. Every time that High Priest of
old went into the Holy of Holies, he was representing the one who
was already his priest, already. These were types and pictures
of Christ till he comes. But just as he has an eternal
shore at the ship, just as he was a lamb slain before the foundation
of the world, just as he is our Passover in Egypt, just as he
is that rock in the wilderness, just as he is that brazen serpent,
he is the eternal high priest of all God's children, of all
generations, of all ages. We no longer have Ava and the
sons of Levi. We no longer have a human. on
earth priest to go through these ceremonies because Christ has
fulfilled it all. They had that till he come. After
he came, there's no need for those anymore. We come directly
to the throne of grace because our priest is at the throne of
grace. He's sitting, seated at the right hand of the throne
of grace. You see, all of the Old Testament priests stood only
as types and pictures of Christ. Their sacrifices were but pictures. They could never take away sin.
Listen to Hebrews 10, 11. And every priest stands daily,
offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sin. Now, if you had any idea in your
mind in the past that when Aaron offered this sacrifice, or the
sons of Levi, that it put away Israel's sins, erase it right
now. The blood of bulls and goats
cannot put away sin. The Bible tells us that plainly.
It can never take away sin. But this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, for by one offering he had perfected forever them that are
sanctified. Now watch this. The Old Testament
priests were many. There were thousands of them.
They lived a while and died and lived a while and died and lived
a while and died. You see that? They changed priest all the time.
Christ is one priest. He lives forever. These Old Testament
priests were only means. Christ is the God-man. Perfect
God, very God of very God, but perfect man. These Old Testament
priests offered many sacrifices, Christ warned. These Old Testament
priests offered animal blood, Christ his own blood. These Old
Testament priests offered sacrifices for themselves because they were
sinners and for the people. Christ had no sin. Their sacrifices
could never take away sin. They repeated them over and over
again. If they could take away sin, they'd have ceased to have
been offered because sin, once being purged, is no longer in
need of a sacrifice. That's the reason we don't offer
sacrifices. Our sins are purged. They're put away. Christ has
paid the debt, all of it. They always stood. They stood
daily. They never sat down. Their work
was never finished. Christ did His work and sat down, finished
His work. They appeared in an earthly tabernacle.
That brings me to this. Where is His place of ministry?
In heaven itself. Listen to the Scripture. Christ
is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which
is a figure of the truth, a picture of the truth, but into heaven
itself. now to appear in the presence
of God for us as our representative, as our Nehiyachar, as our high
priest. Listen to Hebrews 4.14. We have
a priest who has passed into the heavens. Hebrews 10.12, this
man, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on
the right hand of God. My friends, our great high priest
appeared in the presence of God for us. He appeared on the earth
to take away our sin. Now He appears in the presence
of God as our Mediator. He has offered that one sacrifice,
that atonement has been made, the debt has been paid, it's
counseled, sin is forgiven, put away. He makes us accepted in
the eyes of God. He presents us holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in God's sight. He appears right now in God's
presence for us, and He will appear one day without seeing. Now let me ask you this question.
Who is your priest? Who represents you before God?
Where does he minister? On this earth? In a building
down here? Or in heaven itself? What's his
sacrifice? Now those are three of them.
Who is your priest? Where does he minister? What's his sacrifice? It better be Christ and his blood
in heaven. Now we'll be on the air at 10
o'clock, 10 a.m. every Sunday. For eight years
we've been on at 11 o'clock, now we're on at 10 o'clock. 10
o'clock, remember that. If you want this sermon on tape,
we have a high priest, and the one I'll preach next Sunday on
a divine call and a willing response, write to me. The address will
be given. Until next Lord's Day at 10 a.m., I bid you a pleasant,
good day.